In amongst the Airport security scans and checks, inclusive of a full body search; the checks on cargo reaching America’s ports and harbours, the retina scans and biometric passports, I can now reveal that America has uncovered and overcome yet another threat which could have well escalated into a National Emergency.

A federal anti-terror law that requires longshoremen, truckers and others to submit to criminal background checks has ensnared another class of transportation worker — mule drivers. Mule skinners must abide by federal law and apply for Transportation Worker Identification Credentials, TSA says.

So the Two people who guide the Two Mules which pull the single canal boat along the historic waterway in Easton, Pennysylvania have to apply for, qualify and be given biometric Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC). The two mules, Hank and George, are considered an easy bet, and do not have to qualify or be tested!

AND so it happened, the curse of the one eyed son of the manse brought down England in Dublin today. The outcome might have been different had old Albion a team capable of keeping all 15 on the pitch. But then again … nahh, I don’t think so either. The boys in green deservedly won a pretty rubbish match all round.

I have read few things so far this century that made me laugh as much as this, which is perhaps a shade too funny to be really satirical.

Unfortunately the link was on the same page as this, which could loosely be entitled “where’s my forty acres, as I’ve already got the mule!” I might be interpreting more than is evident within the printed page, but I foresee on the horizon the return of ‘Affirmative Action’ and all that entails for the white man in America, but there are glimmers of a backlash from the many other so-called ‘minorities’. It is strange that one almost never hears of calls from the Chinese, Vietnamese, Pakistani, Indian and many other polyglot American communities for their ‘rights’, in the light of the fact that some of those afore-mentioned ‘minority groups are also discriminated against by other Americans. We certainly do hear of statements asking why should our black brethren get more, just because they were discriminated against legally. As I understand America, it is more a state of mind than a place, where a person of whatever colour, can prosper on his merits and by his hard work; and the question must be asked why one proportion of that America expects a better deal because of their colour?

As neoconservative campaigner David Horowitz writes:- “The claim for reparations is premised on the false assumption that only whites have benefited from slavery. If slave labor created wealth for Americans, then obviously it has created wealth for black Americans as well, including the descendants of slaves. The GNP of black America is so large that it makes the African-American community the 10th most prosperous “nation” in the world. American blacks on average enjoy per capita incomes in the range of twenty to fifty times that of blacks living in any of the African nations from which they were taken. “

Drivers using the legal alternative to hand-held mobiles are 30 per cent slower to react than those slightly over the limit, tests found. And for up to ten minutes after a conversation their reflexes remain dulled, according to the Transport Research Laboratory. Its study suggests that millions could be unwittingly risking their own and others’ lives while obeying the law on phone use in a vehicle.

I can sort of see the logic – people merge into their conversations and perhaps are less observant of road conditions and hence slower to react. But then again, are we to be muted in our own private cars because experts decide this is on our best interests?

And what about listening to music, or the radio? Shall we silence those too? And how about passengers that chat – shall we shut them up and make conversation a criminal offence? Maybe, best of all, we tell “experts” to shut up?

I thought this cartoon rather aptly sums up Obama’s big idea.The debt mountain being hailed by the lickspittle media as visionary and refreshing will have impacts on generations to come. If it were a Republican President doing this, he would be damned. But when it is the Light Worker, why it’s just wonderful. It’s hard to decide which is worse; a radical left President or a sycophantic left wing mediabut when they are combined…!

Did you read that PETA, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, has a new feature on of the organization’s website which takes its campaign to a new sub level: a will posted by founder Ingrid Newkirk that, among other things, calls for her flesh to be used for a barbecue and her feet for umbrella stands.

I dunno about that that. I think human feet umbrella stands are just so retro and quite honestly this new campaign had no legs. PETA are, as personified by Newkirk, insane, loopy, mad. Many of us who do care about animals find the ravings from this organisation plain embarrassing and to paraphrase Dr Doolittle, if you could talk to the animals, I bet they too would find PETA a pain too!

Interesting to read the media that “a man” from President Obama’s hometown of Chicago has been arrested for allegedly sending Obama and his staff envelopes containing HIV-infected blood, in the hopes of killing or harming them. It’s only the second time ever that HIV-infected blood has been sent with malicious intent through the U.S. mail system, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said.

The media does inform us that this man is Ethiopian.Oh and that despite his entry to the US more than 3 years ago, he hasn’t worked. I guess he’s on a long-term trajectory to citizenship? However the media is careful NOT to make it clear that Saad Hussein is also a Muslim. For some reason the Muslim aspect is ignored.

For the second time in less than a fortnight a poll has suggested there is now a majority in Ireland which would vote Yes for the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum. The Millward Brown/IMS poll published today in the Irish Independent showed 63% of decided voters would vote ’Yes’, with 37% voting ’No’. However when the undecided were included in the figures those in favour dropped to 46% and those opposed to 27%, with 27% undecided. An Irish Times /TNS mrbi poll published in the middle of the month said 51% would back the controversial treaty now, with 33% opposed and the undecided put at 16%.

My own feeling is that the political establishment and the media will USE the genuine crisis caused by the economic recession to try and corrall voters into the “YES” to the Lisbon Treaty camp. Of course what the “YES” actually mmeans is a different thing. Voters will vote YES to the warm comfort noises made by the Europhiles – however any such comfort is largely illusionary and does not in any obviate the very real downsides to agreeing a constitution for the EU which will then be used as a further power grab by the same political parasites that insisted Ireland has no right to say no and mean it.It will be interesting to observe the sustained pressure on the Irish people to change their minds and roll over to the demands of the EU.

The Conservatives have said if they were in government they would negotiate with Northern Ireland parties to reform Stormont’s power-sharing structures. IRA/Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness has ruled out any move towards what is known as a voluntary coalition, arguing it amounts to a return to majority unionist rule. However, Conservative NI spokesman Owen Paterson said it remained his preferred option.

For those unfamilar with Northern Ireland affairs, the issue is quite simple. The political system in force ensures mandatory power-sharing. In this way the political structure is frozen in aspic, no change, no chance. By changing this to one of voluntary power-sharing, the dynamic fundamentally changes. Republicans don’t like this, assuming they have a RIGHT to exercise power. They do not. Neither, of course, have unionists but at the end of the day parties should be able to choose who they will share power with. It’s not ideal but it would be better than the farce we currently endure.

As this year’s birthday, and of course the accompanying celebrations, are fast approaching, I thought I’d post a copy of a little piece I wrote on my own blog in 2007.

Wind? A breeze perhaps!

The residents of a small village in rural Zimbabwe return to the hum-drum way of life which has become the norm in that tattered land; they were burying their dead! Many of the mourners are dressed in bright red church uniforms, which give a splash of colour in an otherwise uniformly-drab landscape. The hearse, which in fact was a small blue, dilapidated pick-up truck, held the cheap plywood coffin along with many more mourners perched precariously along the sides of the truck body. The road is strewn with fronds and leaves, giving a smooth and hushed passage to the remains which head for the cemetery. The death certificate has not been filled out correctly, as the true cause of this death is starvation, but instead is given as heart failure! The last time the doctor filled out the correct cause of death on a certificate, he spent four days in his own hospital from the reprisal beating! The sounds of the funeral fill the air; the singing, the clapping, the blowing of a horn! The sounds of real life in a country with the world’s highest rate of inflation, and the world’s lowest life expectancy!

Some miles down the dusty roads, the birthday celebrations for the beloved leader, President Mugabe, are well under way. Costing some £60 thousand pounds in sterling, of course, with the appropriate Zimbabwe cost running at some Z$300 million (just to give you some idea of the heavy toll of inflation). The Opposition parties, muted but still active despite the batons, tear gas and riot police, sneer at the panoply of praise for a man whose politics have sent this once-rich country into a terminal decline, but he and his Zanu-PF bullies take no notice! The first winds of Cyclone Favio are stirring the branches of the trees in the leafy suburbs of Harare, but no-one in power seems to care!

You do not defeat terrorism by rewarding terrorists, regardless of how many bleeding heart liberals argue otherwise. Want to know where that flawed approach leads to? Read UNIONISM DECAYED 1997-2007 - It's my first book and it explains what happens when you seeek to appease terrorists and call it peace. It's available right now for ATW readers so make sure you get your copy by emailing the editor! This is the book that dissents from the herd mentality that doing wrong can lead to being right. It doesn't and this book spells out WHY.

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